


Ties Deeper than Friendship

by Moomo



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Awakening Trio, Gen, Immediately after chapter 17, Parent-Child Relationship, Revelations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-07-10 10:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6980584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moomo/pseuds/Moomo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After defeating Iago, Odin and Laslow are eager to catch up with their old friend Selena. However, they are a little more than alarmed at how deeply Selena has bonded with her new Hoshido allies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ties Deeper than Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> I always pair up Selena and Subaki as soon as possible, so it always cracks me up that immediately after Odin and Laslow are recruited they are confronted with the fact that Selena partnered off and spawned in the time they were apart.

In the chaos that follows the changing of the skies, it is relatively easy for Odin and Laslow to sneak away from their respective lieges and seek out Selena. However, the astral plane is confusing and large, and the boys wander from forest to spring to orchard without any hint of their snarky friend.

“Alas, it would appear that our dear friend does not wish to found. My archrival Laslow of the Azure skies, where do you suggest we venture to next?” Odin remarks with his usual dramatic flair.

“Hmmm, well we haven’t searched the mess hall yet, or the prison for that matter,” Laslow ponders, “but-wait! That red hair! It has to be her!” Laslow directs Odin’s attention to a Pegasus rider flying overhead, a shock of bright red hair flowing behind her.

“Selena! Selena! Over here my old friend!” Odin bolts behind the rider, waving his hands in the air like a lunatic. “I’m so excited I can hardly contain myself!”

Laslow snorts at his friend exuberance before breaking out into a grin and running as well. “Selena! My heart! My fairest of friends! How I have missed you!”

The combined antics of Laslow and Odin seem to have caught the attention of the rider who orders her mount to descend.

“So what happened to never becoming a Pegasus knight hmm?” Laslow teases as he reaches her. “Also I notice you’ve taken to wearing your hair differently as well. It looks as lovely as ever. You, my dear, could make anything look good couldn’t you?”

“Selena! How I have missed you! Come and embrace your old friend Odin Dark!” Odin throws his arms open as he reaches the girl and her mount. The rider dismounts and turns to face both men with a quizzical look on her face.

“Cordelia!” Laslow shouts, absolutely shocked. “How in the blazes did you get here?”

“I don’t know who this “Cordelia” person is,” the Pegasus rider ventures wearily, visibly concerned about the two deranged individuals whom were previously chasing her. “But I do know Selena. My name is Caeldori, and Selena is my mother.”

“Your _mother_? Selena is a _mother_!” Odin yells, the words caught between a statement and a question.

“There must be a mistake,” Laslow stutters out. “Are you sure we’re talking about the same Selena here?”

“Well, my mother has the same hair as me, but she wears it in two pony tails,” Caeldori recounts, “and she wields a sword instead of a lance. But enough about her, who are you two and what business do you have with my mom?”

Sensing Caeldori’s growing (and justified) unease about the two strangers in front of her, Laslow quickly composes himself and answers her before Odin has a chance to open his mouth again and probably scare her off for good.

“Well, I’m Laslow, a retainer of Lord Xander, and he is Odin, a retainer of Lord Leo. We’re both good friends of Selena.”

Caeldori takes a second further to evaluate Laslow and Odin, pondering on whether or not these new Norhian strangers could be trusted. Deciding that they looked relatively harmless, Caeldori offers to take both men to her mother.

“Thank you very much Caeldori,” Laslow smiles, “and might I add that you are every bit as lovely as your gorgeous mother.”

Caeldori blushes at the compliment, lowering her guard a little, and Odin takes the opportunity to question the girl more about the going-ons of the astral plane and Selena’s life.

“So what is the manner of this witchcraft which has allowed you to age so quickly?”

“I beg your pardon?” Caeldori inquires, a little confused and off-put by Odin’s manner of speech.

“What my friend means is that you seem quite mature for a child born to someone as young as our Selena,” Laslow intercepts before Odin can confuse the poor child further.

“Oh, well after I was weaned my mother and father took me to a deeprealm to keep me safe from the war. A deeprealm is a kind of little pocket in the astral plane where time happens a lot quicker. A week here is much longer in the deeprealm.”

“Fascinating,” Odin mumbles, clearly intrigued by strange nature of the astral plane. “May I ask as to whom fathered such a bright young star such as yourself.”

“Oh, well my dad is Subaki!” Caeldori brightens at the mention of her dad. “He’s a perfect Pegasus knight and retainer to Lady Sakura, and my goal is to one day be as perfect as he is!”

“A perfect Pegasus knight eh?” Laslow wonders aloud. “I guess it’s true what they say about parents and spouses.”

Before Laslow or Odin have a chance to press Caeldori anymore, they arrive at a quaint series of cabins a way off from the main barracks and facilities.

“These are the family housing units,” Caeldori explains. “My family’s cabin is the one with the red shutters. If you’ll excuse me, I must go feed and bed down my mount for the night.”

After Caeldori flies off, Laslow and Odin make a beeline to Selena’s house and begin pounding on the door.

“Oh gawds, what do you want?” Selena snarls as she flings open the door. “Are you daft or just-oh.” Selena stops mid tirade as she sees who is was banging on her door like that.

“Well I see you’ve finally made it, took you long enough!” Selena exclaims with a smile, but that tapers off when she sees the stern look on Odin and Laslow’s faces.

“I was just kidding guys, geez. Umm, you can come in if you want,” Selena ventures, unsure at the severe look on her old friends faces.

Odin and Laslow march into Selena’s quarters, Odin shuts the door, and once Laslow establishes that the trio is alone, they really tear into Selena.

“A baby! Really Severa?” Odin scolds, anger making him abandon his usual ridiculous speech patterns.

“Shush,” Selena yelps, panicked. “Those aren’t our names anymore!”

“You’re in no position to be lecturing us about that, now are you?” Laslow sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Not when you went and had a baby in this world.”

Selena sighs and sags down into herself. “How’d you two find out about Caeldori?”

“Does it matter?” Odin snaps. “The better question is does she and her father know about you? The real you? And our homeland?”

“Of course not!” Selena snaps back.

“You of all people!” Odin rages on. “Inigo I could expect this from, but you! You were always lecturing us about not getting attached, don’t form so many bonds here, don’t make friends or else it’ll hurt more when we go home, when you were out here getting married and having a baby for Naga’s sake!”

“Subaki and I aren’t married,” Selena defends herself weakly. “We are waiting until after the war.”

“But yet you couldn’t wait to make a baby?” Laslow tsks.

“Well what’s done is done,” Selena huffs. “I can’t go about un-having Caeldori, so let’s just move past that okay?”

“How?” Laslow jumps in before Odin can unleash another fury of judgement and disapproval. “Have you even thought this through Severa?”

“Obvious not,” Odin scoffs.

“Enough Owain,” Laslow retorts. “Getting angry now will solve nothing.”

Turning his attention back to Selena, Laslow continues. “Honestly Sev, did you think about what’s going to happen after the war? How will you explain our situation to your lover and child? How are you going to convince them to come back with you to Ylisse?”

“I’m not,” Selena answers succinctly.

“You would just disappear and abandon your child and lover without a word?” Laslow gasps, appalled.

“Of course not,” Selena barks, insulted. “Who do you think I am?”

“I don’t understand,” Odin pipes up, confusion replacing anger.

“What I mean is that I don’t intend to return to Ylisse,” Selena sighs, avoiding eye contact with her two friends in the stunned silence that follows.

“Severa,” Odin mutters, pained.

“Look, I miss Ylisse and all our friends and family, but I have family here too. Subaki loves his job here, Caeldori has all her friends here, and I love both of them too much to make them leave the things they love.”

“But what about us Severa?” Laslow asks, allowing himself to be selfish.

Selena sighs and gives a wistful smile to both her old friends before pulling them into a rare hug. “You both are my best friends. We’ve been through hell together so many times now, and I love you both. But I love my boyfriend, and I love my daughter even more than that. I’m sorry, but my home is with them now.”

When Selena tries to pull back out of the hug, Laslow and Odin pull her back. The boys hold Selena tightly in their arms, as if they can keep her with them through sheer force alone (but they would never do that, they love her too much to make her unhappy). Eventually, when the trio lets go of each other there are tears running down Laslow’s cheeks, and Odin’s own eyes look a bit watery. Without a word, Selena moves to the cupboards and pulls out a little box.

“I know that I’ve been holding onto this for all three of us,” Selena declares as she hands the box to Odin and Laslow. “But now that I’m never going to need it, you’ll have to safeguard it from now on.”

“Is this-”

“Yeah, it’s the ball that Anankos gave us. Your ticket home.”

“You’re not going to change your mind about this, are you?” Odin asks, accepting his friend’s gift.

“No, I’m not.”

“Then I wish you all the best,” Laslow smiles again. “May you live a long and happy life in Hoshido.”

“Bah,” Selena groans with a smile. “You’re acting like we’re never going to see each other again. We’ve still got a war to finish here which means we still got some time together. Let’s not waste it.”

“You are right my dear friend!” Odin declares, regaining his lost bravado. “Let us make haste to the mess hall where we can enjoy a meal as comrades again! And then you can introduce us properly to your love and your child!”

“Uncle Laslow,” Laslow tries out the new title on his tongue. “I like the sound of it.”

“You wish,” Selena scoffs. “Also, don’t even think about flirting with my daughter, or I’ll make you wish that Grima had eaten you instead!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it love,” Laslow swears cheekily.

Laughing, the trio of friends make their way to the mess hall, catching each other up on the past year of their lives apart from each other.


End file.
